One year ago, it seemed as if John McCain had all but destroyed any chances he had of being nominated for president by the Republican party. His disastrous illegal immigration which he bill co-sponsored with Ted Kennedy created a tremendous backlash among not just conservatives but also across a wide section of the American public.
The fact that John McCain recovered from that enough to win the nomination still rested less on conservatives than it did on moderates and independents along with senior voters. McCain had offended many Christians and conservatives in the 2000 Republican primaries and had done nothing to repair the breach.
The issue is one of viewpoint. While the left and the media might grudgingly hail McCain as a "maverick", to conservatives he was something less–someone who not only did not share their values but was not on their side. And while the picking of Sarah Palin as his running mate might not have totally corrected the situation, it is a step in the right direction.
I am myself one of those people to which McCain needed appeal. In the Arizona primary I voted for Huckabee, and must confess that I actually dislike McCain quite a bit. Not only does he not represent many of my own values, but he tried to pass an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants while his home state is struggling with a multi-billion dollar shortfall due to the cost of illegal immigration. I decided months ago that I was probably not going to vote in the Presidential Election, as I felt I did not have a dog in the fight, just as millions of others did.
While I still might not like McCain-I do not fully trust him yet-I do like Palin. She is smart, and tough, and stands by her convictions. And unlike Hillary and the other liberal politicians, she is a real woman who knows what it is like to live in the real world and do things like live on a budget; something far more familiar to American families than American politicians.
Many will say that McCain should have chosen Mitt Romney, but that would also have been a mistake. While Romney would make a fine Presidential candidate, I can personally attest that his selection would not have been enough to change my decision as a V.P. pick. I do not think he could be influential enough on McCain as a Vice President to be effective.
Palin is just the opposite; I know that even if she is not directly influential on McCain, she will be very effective in the public eye and check McCains liberal tendencies indirectly. And from her background, I trust her to do so.
Ultimately I still think the illegal immigrants will be given amnesty, which will result in an avalanche of liberal voters that will turn America into a one-party system as far as elections go. But it might not happen under the watchful eye of Vice-President Palin, and that gives me hope.
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